Skyrunner’s Guild

Overview:
The Skyrunner’s Guild, a band of skilled airship pilots stranded in Ravensgate by its lockdown, navigates the city’s perilous skies and rifts, smuggling goods vital for plague cures. Adept at traversing eldritch voids, they offer quests to guard cargo and face survival challenges, clashing with the Ember Syndicate and Ebon Star cultists. Guided by Zephyrus’s whispers yet tainted by gods like Zaladria and Xulthar, their daring runs link to the Aetherian seal’s fragility, crucial for uncovering the plague’s source and preventing a second Calamity of the Void.

Description:
In Ravensgate’s mist-choked skies, the Skyrunner’s Guild operates from creaking airship docks, their brass-plated vessels humming with arcane engines. Fog bites with ozone, veiling rifts that pulse with Xulthar’s voids, while Zephyrus’s whispers guide pilots through coiling shadows. Crews in damp leathers, their hands trembling from Zaladria’s illusions, smuggle herbs and relics, their goggles reflecting plague-tainted streets below. The Guild’s aesthetic fuses steampunk grit—grinding gears, hissing steam—with cosmic horror, their airships dancing on the edge of the abyss.

History:
Pre-Calamity: The Skyrunner’s Guild’s precursors were the Aetherian Empire’s skywardens, ferrying arcane cargo across Ecliptica. Based in Crownspire (modern Ravensgate), they navigated Veil rifts, drawing Zephyrus’s omens for guidance. Zaladria’s illusions misled their routes, Xulthar’s voids spawned ambushes, and Nyrathos’s secrets fueled mutinies, weakening their ranks before the Calamity.

During the Calamity: The Calamity of the Void grounded the skywardens. Xulthar’s rifts tore airships apart, Zaladria’s illusions turned skies into mazes, and Zephyrus’s whispers became maddening. The Whisperplague, amplified by Ebon Star relics, infected crews, while Xyraxis’s decay rusted their vessels. Survivors aided Aetherian arcanists in sealing the gods beneath Ravensgate, but many were trapped when the lockdown sealed the skies.

Current History: Stranded in Ravensgate, the Skyrunner’s Guild pivots to smuggling through lockdown rifts, ferrying herbs from Sylvaris and relics from Nocturne to Plague Doctors. Their clashes with the Ember Syndicate in the Fogbound Market and Ebon Star cultists in the Veilcrypt spark aerial dogfights. Distrustful of the Iron Quill’s hoarding, they navigate Zephyrus-guided rifts, but Zaladria’s illusions and Xulthar’s voids threaten their runs. Their quests to guard cargo and survive eldritch storms are vital to crafting plague cures, yet their smuggling risks weakening the Aetherian seal, urging adventurers to join their perilous missions.

Regions in Ravensgate:

  1. Mistveil Pier: A foggy dock where airships moor, haunted by Zephyrus’s omens, used for rift smuggling.

  2. Fogbound Market: A shadowy bazaar where Guild pilots trade relics, cloaked by Zaladria’s illusions.

  3. Veilcrypt Airdock: A rift-laced platform pulsing with Xulthar’s voids, staging Ebon Star ambushes.

  4. Withered Skyport: A decayed dock tainted by Xyraxis’s decay, storing plague-cursed cargo.

  5. Shadowspire Hangar: A rune-etched bay where Nyrathos’s whispers fuel Guild betrayals.

  6. Ashen Skylift: A scorched platform burned by Seraphel’s purges, guarding relic shipments.

Characters:

  1. Captain Elara Windstrider

    • Description: Aarakocra captain, feathered cloak, vigilant eyes.

    • Backstory: Mistveil Pier leader, navigates Zephyrus’s rifts, assigns cargo guard quests (Persuasion DC 15).

  2. Voidrunner Kael Duskveil

    • Description: Gaunt pilot, void-tattooed, trembling hands.

    • Backstory: Veilcrypt Airdock smuggler, tainted by Xulthar, torn by Ebon Star ties. Offers intel (Insight DC 14).

  3. Mistcaller Toren Fogveil

    • Description: Breezy navigator, misty leathers, whispering voice.

    • Backstory: Fogbound Market scout, hears Zephyrus’s omens, smuggles cure herbs. Guides to rifts (Arcana DC 15).

  4. Witherkin Lyssa Ashveil

    • Description: Frail mechanic, ashen skin, ravenous gaze.

    • Backstory: Withered Skyport tech, tainted by Xyraxis, repairs plague-tainted airships. Leads to ruins (Investigation DC 16).

  5. Dawnblade Elara Pureveil

    • Description: Radiant enforcer, glowing blade, scarred face.

    • Backstory: Ashen Skylift zealot, purges “traitors” for Seraphel, allied with Ebon Star (CR 3, Cult Fanatic).

  6. Runecaller Myron Shadeveil

    • Description: Pale arcanist, rune-etched goggles, fractured eyes.

    • Backstory: Shadowspire Hangar mage, deciphers Nyrathos’s tomes for navigation. Trades rift maps (Arcana DC 15).

  7. Plaguewarden Sylva Thornveil

    • Description: Verdant Covenant ally, vine-wreathed, haunted gaze.

    • Backstory: Mistveil Pier healer, smuggles Sylvaris herbs, torn by Xyraxis’s decay. Offers cures (Nature DC 12).

  8. Shadowstalker Zeryn Gloomveil

    • Description: Shadowy rogue, inky blades, manic grin.

    • Backstory: Veilcrypt Airdock saboteur, serves Zaladria, ambushes Guild shipments (CR 3, Spy).

  9. Whisperblade Ragna Mistveil

    • Description: Blind pilot, misty armor, trembling voice.

    • Backstory: Fogbound Market oracle, hears Zephyrus’s truths, warns of rift storms (Insight DC 14).

  10. Farseer Vionna Starveil

    • Description: Melodic navigator, thorn-wreathed helm, haunted eyes.

    • Backstory: Shadowspire Hangar tactician, sings to soothe rifts, seeks Ebon Star clues (Performance DC 14).

Impacts on Denizens:
The Skyrunner’s Guild’s pilots brave Ravensgate’s lockdown, their airships a lifeline for plague cures yet a risk to the Aetherian seal. Zephyrus’s whispers guide their rifts, but Zaladria’s illusions cloak Ebon Star ambushes in the Veilcrypt Airdock. Xulthar’s voids threaten the Mistveil Pier, while Xyraxis’s decay rusts the Withered Skyport. Nyrathos’s secrets sow paranoia in the Shadowspire Hangar, and Seraphel’s purges scorch the Ashen Skylift. Their smuggling clashes with the Ember Syndicate, and their reliance on Plague Doctors fuels quests to guard cargo and navigate eldritch storms. Adventurers must join their runs, risking betrayal to uncover the plague’s source and prevent a catastrophic resurgence of the gods.